Welcome to Hyperion Records, an independent British classical label devoted to presenting high-quality recordings of music of all styles and from all periods from the twelfth century to the twenty-first.

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God be in my head

Introduction

John Rutter (b1945) must rank as one of the most successful composers alive today. He was educated at Clare College in Cambridge where he was Director of Music between 1975 and 1979. He was a Lecturer at the Open University between 1975 and 1988 and was made an Honorary Fellow of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, in 1980. He is much in demand as an arranger, composer and conductor both in this country and in America. His large-scale works, Gloria (1974), Requiem (1985) and Magnificat (1990), have become some of the most widely performed of all pieces in the choral society repertoire.

His music has been described as pastiche—but this is to decry the sensitivities that he exhibits in writing a particular type of music for amateur musicians. His work is beautifully crafted, and is written sensitively for voices and instruments alike. Any composer willing to attempt a setting of words such as God be in my head, usually sung to a different and well-known tune—in this case by Walford Davies—must do so with an unshakeable conviction. This short work represents a mere shaving from the composer’s workbench in terms of numbers of bars, but nonetheless the result is a very beautiful setting of fine words from the Sarum Primer.

'An awe-inspiring sound' (Classic FM Magazine)'This is a worthy Millennium tribute to the musicians of St Paul’s. A disc to 'This is a worthy Millennium tribute to the musicians of St Paul’s. A di ...» More

Details

God be in my head and in my understanding.
God be in mine eyes and in my looking.
God be in my mouth and in my speaking.
God be in mine heart and in my thinking.
God be at mine end and in my departing.

God be in my head and in my understanding.
God be in mine eyes and in my looking.
God be in my mouth and in my speaking.
God be in mine heart and in my thinking.
God be at mine end and in my departing.